Bellaire car dealer known for ads arrested again on child sex charges

Updated 10:09 pm, Friday, June 21, 2013

Riku Melartin, a Houston-area car dealership owner, has been arrested on charges of indecency with children.

Riku Melartin, a Houston-area car dealership owner, has been arrested on charges of indecency with children.

Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office

Bellaire car dealer known for ads arrested again on child sex charges

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A Bellaire man who allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old girl at his Crosby car dealership has been arrested again on additional charges of indecency with children, officials said.

Riku Pekka Melartin, 52, was arrested Friday morning after multiple indictments by a Harris County grand jury were unsealed, said Sara Marie Kinney, spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Melartin is the same gun-toting good Samaritan who caught an armed burglar with the help of his .50-caliber handgun and used the crime-busting incident in ads for his dealership.

"The grand jury issued additional indictments on a number of charges, including sexual assault of a child," said Kinney, who didn't know the exact number of additional indictments. "All stem from indecency with children."

Melartin, who had been free on $50,000 bail related to the earlier pending charge, will remain in custody at least 60 days because his initial bond was revoked, Kinney said.

In January, he was charged with sexual assault of a child in an incident with a girl who was helping her mother clean the Crosby dealership, according to a criminal complaint.

In February 2012, Melartin rescued a neighbor who had been robbed at gunpoint in the 5300 block of Holly Street by shooting at the ground and then holding his gun on the thief until authorities arrived.

In commercials made later for John Keating Chevrolet in Crosby, Melartin appears on screen saying, "If there's a bad guy in my neighborhood, I say, 'Not on my watch.' " And then, "If there's a damsel in distress, I say, not on my watch.' " The ad shows Melartin in various poses with his handgun at the dealership and at a nearby gun range.